


The Treasure Map

by angelkat



Series: [collection] Rival Argentica (2014-2018) [7]
Category: Puss in Boots (2011)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Pirate, Drama & Romance, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-25
Updated: 2016-04-25
Packaged: 2021-02-17 23:23:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,163
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21801397
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/angelkat/pseuds/angelkat
Summary: In which Puss in Boots meets Kitty Softpaws in a pirate ship. And they fight over a treasure map./reposted Dec 15, 2019. not edited
Relationships: Puss in Boots/Kitty Softpaws
Series: [collection] Rival Argentica (2014-2018) [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1570921
Kudos: 2





	The Treasure Map

The place was a mess.

The cantina was packed with people— _pirates_ , more appropriately said. Waitresses in medieval uniforms pranced to and fro while shouting orders, and groups of drunken men talked and laughed loudly while bringing together their overflowing glasses of beer. Even though candlelights glowed on every table, the scene was hardly romantic. The laughter that echoed throughout the place was virile and loud. There was the buzzing sound of busy chattering; and, of course, there were the occasional fights here and there that prompted shouting from the cheering crowd, betting on who'd win or lose. Coins were scattered about in the air, and some greedy pirates fought against each other, wanting to get all the money into their pockets. The dusty chandeliers above gave the place an old-fashioned feel and a hot, orangey glow, despite the dark, rumbling clouds outside that threatened rain. Musicians on the right side of the bar played bouncy, classic pirate songs, so the rest of the people either sang along to the words or laughed at the poor guitarist whose one strumming hand had been replaced by a rusty hook.

_/...don't be prissy pedants, me hearties!/  
/…just grog yeselves with golden booties!/  
/…coz the sea on which we sail away…/  
/…avast! We mates chow fish fillet! /_

The songs they sang made no perfect sense, but everyone sure is looking like they were having the time of their lives—chatting and singing and drinking from their dozens of barrels of beer stacked up on one side of the pub. It was a party that everyone was celebrating, happy because of the success of having looted a considerable amount of treasure from the latest town they had just passed by. Everyone celebrated their fair share of gold and silver and jewelry—

—except for one of them.

Unbeknownst to everyone else, the roguish 'merchant' who sat on the farthest corner of the cantina was observing each and every one of them.

"Your _lait_ , monsieur," said a shy maid, her voice slightly tinted by a French accent, as she placed his order onto the table.

The orange gato tipped the edge of his hat in gratitude for the milk, flashing her a playful wink while he was at it.

The shy maid covered her suddenly reddening face with her silver tray, politely excused herself, and scuttled away, obviously flustered.

Puss in Boots chuckled to himself. That works every time. He wondered why that shy, lovely lady would even work at a place like this. She didn't belong to such a vulgar bistro that stank of pirate sweat.

He crossed his boots over the table as he brought the shot glass of leche to his lips. Even as he tried to relish every delicate sip, his shadowed eyes kept wandering around the bar, watching each and every soul for suspicious actions while his hat subtly covered his ever so famous face. One can never tell if one of these people were actually only… _pretending_ to be a part of the crewmen of this ship, just as he was. One can never tell if one of them actually _knew_ who he was, only waiting for the right time to stab him from the back.

Since he already had the prize inside his boot, he had to be alert—even more than he usually is. One can never know _when_ the captain of the ship, Cap'n El Rojo, would suddenly find out that his beloved treasure map was stolen. It was a map that led to the mystic Treasure of Falguijaro, a treasure that only criminals, outcasts, and fugitives would ever know. If Captain El Rojo suddenly became smart enough to realize that the merchant named 'Adolfo' was only the international criminal Puss in Boots in disguise, then Puss knew he had to be ready to escape anytime.

There were rumors that Captain El Rojo liked torturing methods.

Puss placed the now-empty shot glass onto his table. He then glanced outside the circular window, while making sure his hat still covered half of his face. He saw the waves starting to get a little agitated than how it was an hour ago. The clouds above made small rumbling noises, an occasional flash of lightning and thunder here and there, but he decided that there was nothing to be alarmed of. Yet.

Thankfully.

But even so, it was better if he discreetly left now.

Yes, well, the pirate ship he was in was smacked dab in the middle of the gargantuan Pacific Ocean, and the nearest mainland was still in España. But, Puss knew a small island some few miles in the North. He knew because they have sailed passed that island half an hour ago. If he could just quietly untie that spare boat in the back of the ship without being noticed, he could sail to his freedom and start searching for the famed Treasure of Falguijaro by himself…

…and finally repay an old debt.

"What in Hook's name do you _think_ are you doing to my floor!" a heavily accented female's voice suddenly bellowed, interrupting his thoughts. Puss, along with everyone else, turned his alarmed eyes to the source of the disturbance, and saw Madame Victorina D'Bossé kick at a pail of water so it splashed onto a maid's humiliated face. As far as Puss knew, Madame Victorina D'Bossé was the manager of the cantina who liked wearing heavily-designed French dresses and hot pink lipstick with her hair elaborately braided up high in a desperate effort to hide her true age and act like the Frenchwoman she wasn't.

But, the black she-cat, the maid, embarrassedly kneeling onto the floor, Puss did not know of. He tried to crane his neck to get a glance of her face, but she was bowing her head down, back turned to him.

"I thought I told you, you pathetic cat, not a _speck_! Not on my floor!" The oversized woman then crouched low, pinching at the cat's ear while holding her up. "You hear me, lady? Not! A! Speck!"

"Y-yes, Señora," stuttered the she-cat, trying to lower her face as much as possible so she wouldn't get any more embarrassed than she already was. The cantina had turned quiet and everyone else was watching the _speck_ -tacle that Madame Victorina 'The Bossy' was making herself, and it was making Kitty Softpaws' face harbor all the shades of red in the world.

"It…" she started once again, flinching at the pain on her ear. "It w-won't happen again, Madame. Promise."

"Good kitty," mocked D'Bossé with a sardonic grin, dropping her onto the floor with a harsh _thud_. As she dramatically walked away while swaying her hips in a desperate effort to show off her large French gown, Kitty groaned as she fluttered her eyes open, slowly trying to sit up. Thankfully, the staring people had returned back to their business, and the former noise of the cantina was restored. She dusted off the dirt from her ridiculous apron, cursing the nightmare that her boss, Humpty Alexander Dumpty, had forced her to go through. She was hired by that egg to steal the treasure map from Captain El Rojo, and therefore was compelled to board this ship as a servant.

Kitty Softpaws was an international outlaw, a skilled thief, an unassailable assassin, a flirting connoisseur, a trained swordswoman—and she was most definitely _not_ a maid. The problem was, she just couldn't resist the amount of money.

That Humpty was a persuasive one.

Ultimately, she had more to do than just making sure there was 'not a speck' onto Madame D'Bossé's cheap floor. She had to get that stupid treasure map already. But, earlier, when she tried to search Captain El Rojo's office, and even El Rojo himself, she could not find the map that would end her this suffering. The map…someone else should have stolen it from El Rojo somehow. Kitty hated the idea of being outfoxed by someone else, so she was determined to find out whoever the crook was. She had to keep on observing this ship—whoever stole it from El Rojo must still be in here, because there was no way the thief would jump into the sea and swim all over the way back to Spain.

It was suicide to swim in the middle of the ocean where the skies don't look very friendly.

Kitty's eyes were too occupied by the plans running through her head that she didn't notice the tawny paw that was being offered to her. She looked up to meet an infernal pair of green eyes.

And, suddenly, the two cats felt their eyes sparking with mutual recognition.

 _Is…is this…Puss in Boots?_ Kitty thought, eyes wide open in shock, mouth dangling open. Well, she didn't personally know who this Puss in Boots was in reality, she only recognized his face in the Wanted posters from everywhere in the world, but seeing him right in front of her…it kind of made her fur rise to their ends.

Even Puss' paw froze right in the middle of the air, his smooth and suave façade destroyed by his own horrification. He recognized her in the same way—Wanted posters, though they were not as many as Puss had, of course. _Kitty…Kitty Softpaws is…_ here _? The famous thief? But how—how…why…_

But immediately, the two knew why.

As if lightning struck the two of them, the same thought crossed their heads at the same time. They thought that the other was here because of the map that led to the Treasure of Falguijaro. Well, why else would the other be in here? They were both wanted international criminals who were known to wander around the world, settling scores. Surely, the only reason that the other would be here was because of the Falguijaran treasure.

Kitty's azure eyes suddenly looked even brighter than they already were as she realized that it. This Puss in Boots _must_ have the map with him. He must have stolen it, he _must_. It was clearly obvious that _that_ was what he was here for. So, with a growing smile onto her face, she started forming a plan inside her head, a plan to deceive him, one way or another.

But, contradicting Kitty's brightening eyes, Puss' green ones darkened with apprehension. Warning bells frantically rang inside his skull. A thousand ideas flew to his head, but the most probable theory was that Softpaws must have been spying on him the whole time, waiting for the right time for her to steal the map from him. And, knowing what this Kitty can do with her famous and incredible soft paws…

Puss, panicked, withdrew his paw from helping the fallen she-cat on the floor, and checked inside his left boot. Kitty Softpaws wasn't a thief one should underestimate, they always say. He never met her, no, not once, but she was quite a popular one in the criminal world—a dangerous thief despite how harmless she looks. But when he saw the scrolled up piece of old paper safely tucked in there, albeit half-crushed by the lack of space, he blew out a sigh of relief. _Phew_. Not to worry.

The map was still safe in his boot.

"Well, señor, aren't you going to help me up?" the female cat suddenly interrupted his thoughts.

"Oh, of course, of course…" Puss said, snapping out of his trance to offer her his paw once again. She took it, and was hauled up back to her feet.

"Thank you. And, by the way, my name is Katrina Silvestre," said Kitty, holding out a paw for him to shake.

Puss' tail flicked from behind him once her false name reached his ears.

Katrina Silvestre, eh?

He smirked at her, eyes catching a mischievous flame. _You sly woman, you. We both know you want the map._

With that superior grin still on his face, he shook her paw like the gentleman he was. If they were going to play pretend, then so be it. "And I am Adolfo, the merchant friend of Captain El Rojo. I wish to talk further, but I think I just heard the capitán call for my name—"

"No, don't leave yet, mister… _Adolfo_ ," whispered Kitty onto his ear, her one paw holding his arm to stop him from going. She said 'Adolfo' with a different tone than how she said her other words. Oh, yes, both of them knew. She circled him, knowing that Puss' eyes were glued to hers. "Wouldn't you like a cup of leche first…hmm?"

She smiled up at him, and the Spaniard feline felt his eyes widen to saucers at the sight. He placed a paw over his head, realizing his hat was gone, and snatched the hat over 'Katrina's' head and put it onto his own.

"Extraordinary larceny skills, _Katrina_ ," he remarked, adopting her exact tone of voice when she had said 'Adolfo'.

Kitty shrugged as if it was nothing, a radiant smile onto her face. "So, what do you say? One leche? My treat."

Puss looked back at her, not being able to resist the idea of his favorite beverage. He knew he had just had leche, but it's not like he's going to drink whatever this Miss 'Silvestre' wishes to offer him. She wasn't exactly someone he could trust. Putting that aside, though, he might be able to use a little small talk with this very lovely lady to take off the tension from his shoulders. And a little five minutes wouldn't hurt…would it?

In the end, he took her paw in his and led her to the table he used just earlier. "I would be honored, señorita."

Kitty hid a grin from her face. Perfect. Sure, she had just thought of it, but her plan was working…she just needed Puss to play with it for a little longer. When the two of them reached the table, Kitty bowed before him like the maid she was (although she felt sick in doing it) and excused herself politely for the kitchen to get their cups of leche. When she returned with a silver tray, she found Puss sharpening his foil.

"Ah, Katrina," he greeted, placing his sword back into its scabbard. He then hooked his fingers and rested his chin on it, his calculating eyes following her every move as Kitty set the bottle of leche and the shot glasses, one in front of her and the other in front of Puss. Puss' eyes seemed to narrow very, very slightly as he watched her place the shot glasses on their appropriate and respective places.

Kitty froze. He's acting too suspicious.

So, immediately, she smiled that sweet smile of hers, one that never failed to hypnotize any male cat in the world. She had heard from a transcendent guru that a smile, even a fake one, could alter one's mood. "Perhaps you would you want to exchange our glasses?"

Puss acted like he hadn't heard her and instead put his paws behind his head casually. "It took you some time to get that bottle of leche, my lady." Puss smirked from under the shadow of his hat, eyes glowing green in the darkness. "Did something happen in the kitchen? Perhaps a small predicament?"

Kitty faked her sudden nervousness with a laugh. _Oh no. He definitely knew...he definitely knew._ But, being a thief throughout her life, she'd learned that a lie would only work if she dove deeper into it. So that was exactly what she did.

"You are one paranoid gato, Adolfo. Come on," she said, and she felt her eyes widen as she watched Puss observe the particular shot glass that was given to him. Kitty snatched the shot glass from his paw so he wouldn't be observing it any longer, poured some milk into it, and slid it over the wooden table over to him.

"Am I supposed to drink this?" asked Puss, one eyebrow arched playfully as he held the shot glass into the air.

Kitty poured some milk into her own shot glass and raised her glass into the air. "If you do not want to, then who am I to stop you?" She took a few delicate sips from her own cup to show him that the leche was perfectly harmless.

Puss observed her do so, and decided that it wouldn't hurt to take a few delicate sips as well. But as he did, his eyes suddenly felt heavier than lead, and his head thumped against the table…unconscious.

Kitty paused as the sound of a soft _thump_ reached her ears. She stopped drinking her milk, cracked one eye open and was genuinely shocked to see Puss unconscious, right then and there.

Her plan actually…worked? After how suspicious Puss had acted, her plan actually _worked_?

She found it a little hard to believe at first, but eventually she got over it and laughed at herself for doubting the success of her plan. _Of course_ her plan succeeded, of course it did! _She_ , Kitty Softpaws, was the one who had planned it out, of course…immediately, she removed her apron to reveal her true self as the legendary Softpaws. She climbed out of her chair and approached Puss, a mini-knife onto her paw. Well, honestly she didn't think her plan would work after how suspicious Puss had acted, but this was a miracle. Maybe the legendary Puss in Boots _is_ as legendary as they say—and a legendary fool at that.

But as her knife-wielding paw was just starting to approach him, a thought crossed her mind.

_Wasn't it a little bit odd that…_

Before her mind could finish the thought, Puss suddenly grabbed at her arm in a vice-like grip. Kitty dropped her knife onto the floor, eyes widening in shock. Her breath hitched, her heart beating fast, as Puss raised his head up to look at her with a self-satisfied smirk.

He hadn't sipped a single drop of the leche, of course. He had noticed that the particular shot glass given to him was a little misty than it normally should have been, so he figured that it must've been sprinkled with a small amount of sunwood herb that was enough to paralyze an adult elephant. From what very few criminals knew, the ground powder of sunwood herb was a dangerous poison that had just been discovered a little more than a month ago before it became a secretly popular poisoning ingredient.

He didn't even know the term 'secretly popular' even existed. But never mind that. He looked into the eyes of 'Katrina Silvestre', only one word forming inside his head to describe such a woman.

_Sly, indeed._

"You will never be able to fool me." He stood up, and loomed down at her threateningly. "…Kitty Softpaws."

But their small talk was cut short when darkness enveloped the room. Suddenly, all the flames of the candles in the room got whisked out as the doors of the cantina banged open with a frightening echo. Puss and Kitty gasped, looking up at the cause of intrusion. A huge shadow of a hulking muscular pirate entered the room, and then, he hollered, with the huskiest and gruffest thundering voice anyone had ever heard—

" _That Adolfo isn't me ol' merchant mate!"_ The feared Captain El Rojo, his one eye blotched by a bloody red eye patch, pointed one overstuffed finger in Puss' direction, nostrils flaming wildly. " _He! He! Pussycat in the Boots!_ _HE STOLE ME PRECIOUS MAP!_ "

A black shadow whizzed past Puss and dashed through the door, leaving an appalled Puss alone to raise his paws up in the air to surrender. He stared at the open door in shock.

Kitty had left.

He stepped his left boot on the floor once. When he didn't feel the discomfort of the olden, crumpled map underneath his foot, he had to be impressed despite the situation he was left to deal with. Now he had to chase her to retrieve that map… _Oh, perfect_ , he inwardly groaned, puffing out the air from his cheeks with an eye roll. _Fantastic_. Just fantastic.

Kitty Softpaws, that demoñita of a woman, was not only cunning, not to mention attractive…but she was agile, as well. He didn't exactly know how to feel about the current situation she suddenly got him stuck into, but…

Puss had to whistle his amazement.

"Ye," El Rojo thundered, pushing past men and elbowing them in the ribs as he threw away the tables, just to clear the path he has set straight to kill Puss in Boots. "Ye stole me map! Them Falguijaro booty is _mine_!" he howled, loud and clear, thumping his chest with a thumb to point to himself. He neared his face to Puss' unchanging expression, and shouted so loud at him that the cat's ginger fur vibrated behind him. "Mine, ye ol' dumb bilge pussycat, MINE! Gimme back me map, or El Rojo will gonna tear ye to shreds and chomp yer brains fo' breakfast! Me has crushed thirty-nine skulls between ma' thighs! Ye gonna be one o' those, ye landlocked lubber!"

Everyone else stayed quiet, watching their captain and the cat fight in a battle of staring right at each other's eyeballs. Puss refused to move a muscle.

"Fear me," the outlaw whispered, a threatening look plastered all over his overcast face. "…if you dare."

Just then, El Rojo can't take it anymore. He shouted his frustration, a shrill, earsplitting sound echoing in the vast sea, causing the wooden furniture to vibrate and one glass candelabrum to shake in its place and fall to the floor in a thousand shards. He thumped his chest like a wild caveman as everyone else covered their ears in pain, with Puss' eyes twitching every now and then at the terrible sound, paw placed over the hilt of his sword.

After he was done screaming, El Rojo, grumpier than necessary, pulled out his rugged battle knife and brought it down to slice the cat's head into a bloody Sundae shake with a brutal battle cry. But when he looked down, it was not the bloody Sundae shake he was hoping to see.

It was Puss in Boots, alive and smiling, who had blocked his craggy knife with his own sword.

"¿Cómo estás, amigo?"

Then, the fugitive renegade did a 360-degree flip worthy of a skilled acrobat, kicking El Rojo's dagger out of his hand in the process. Everyone else's shocked eyes followed the direction of the knife as it sliced through the air and barely missed a frightened musician's overgrown nose hair. Angrily, El Rojo looked back at the cat; and he saw Puss hissing at him, baring his teeth. Right then and there, Puss suddenly kicked his unconsumed cup of poisoned leche, the acidic milk spilling onto El Rojo's eyes—and quickly dashed past the door at the speed of the wind.

The muscular captain screamed as the acid burned his remaining eye. It was a scream so loud and threatening that the pet lion of one pirate had to crouch under the table in fear. Suddenly, he then brought down one beefy iron fist onto a wooden table to crush it to splinters and smithereens. Steam could have come out of his flaring nostrils and bright red ears, his face so red with anger that it was a wonder how it could all fit in one face.

Captain El Rojo was going to explode.

Angrily, he turned to his staring comrades at the bar, and flipped over a wooden table so it crashed against the wall. Everyone else fearfully ran to the side, hoping to avoid anymore outburst that their captain might throw at them to kill.

"What are ye _doing_ , standing there?" El Rojo, with his battle knife out of the option, pulled out his killer sword—a precious booty he had robbed from the treasure house of the hidden city of San Lorenzo. Its sharp, ragged edges were a malicious, glowing red; add the sprays of dried blood splattered onto the silver blade that glinted malevolently against the crackling lightning and thunder from outside. Thrusting his wicked sword forward, he cried, albeit desperately, his only remaining eye glowing red from the acid—

" _Get that bloody cat! And me map!"_

* * *

When Puss emerged from the cantina, barely even able to catch his rapid and speeding breath, he found himself in the middle of a fiesta. Yes, a _fiesta,_ despite the growling skies above. Sometimes he just couldn't understand how the minds of pirates worked. This celebration and merrymaking was probably just an extension of the partying that had been happening inside the cantina just lately—that is, until the Captain El Rojo had pooped in it and vowed to have his brains for ice cream. Puss in Boots was good—really, incredibly, _really_ good, but even he can't take on dozens of aggressive and over-muscled pirates at once. So he better run now. But where to? Soon, El Rojo would have recovered from his sunwood-induced eyes, and be after him with an army ready to cook his innards to feline stew.

He did not like that thought.

His panicked green eyes scanned the area—it was full of dancing men with their respective hook hands and patched eyes and steel artificial feet; and women with big gowns and hot pink lipstick and exaggerated braids. It was packed with people, and they were dancing an unsophisticated form of dance that even Puss did not know of. Perhaps if Puss danced along with them, or hid under the women's exaggeratedly huge gowns (What? It's not like he had any other intentions) maybe…then just maybe…he would be able to have a chance to escape…

Just then, the little assassin's ears suddenly perked up, face lighting with recognition. He had spotted a strange shadow whiz to the left, behind an accordionist whose teeth had been replaced by mugged gold. But the details of the accordionist's rotten teeth are not important. That black shadow—that was Kitty Softpaws, that…that…that _very—_ attractive…devil woman who had interfered with his noble mission of settling his recompense. She was a very—very— _ignoble_ instrument of evil that…that…that radiated of _deviousness_ and _deceit_ and—and bloomed of…of…of extraordinary flair.

Argh. It frustrated him how he could not find any other malicious adjective to describe her.

Never mind that. He must chase after her, retrieve the map that is rightfully his and his only, and finally get to be the hero of his beloved hometown San Ricardo—surely they would build him a statue made of obsidian once he returns! …marble, maybe, but obsidian would be quite better as it would give his features a more fine-looking texture and a dramatic—

_Bang!_

The mighty Puss in Boots was thrown into the air and crash-landed onto the ground, as other chips and pieces of wood and crooked and rusted nails blew up in fireworks and fell alongside him. When Puss tried to get up, groaning, he saw that the door of the cantina had been blasted open by a fat pirate's gun, probably to Captain El Rojo's command. El Rojo stood with a sword that Puss was sure he was going to use to make that bloody Sundae shake. El Rojo gingerly walked forward with a toothy grin—though he lacked approximately three of them—letting his sword catch some of the moonlight and glint it painfully against Puss' eyes.

"Ye steal me map, so _we_ steal ye all of 'em nine lives. _Mates!_ " El Rojo raised his sword into the air, summoning all of his mates to come to his side and attack Puss in Boots, their newest enemy. "Chase 'em bilge cat for d' torture! _Smartly_!"

Alright, Puss _definitely_ had to get that map quick.

With El Rojo's gang ready to attack, all the dancing women and the unarmed musicians and pirates ran around in circles. They were screaming and panicking, making it more difficult for Puss to try to run to that spare boat on the side of the ship, and he saw that Kitty Softpaws was just starting to untie it. Puss clenched his paws into fists. If Kitty gets away with that boat….

That spare boat was his one and _only_ chance of escape, so, no, Puss was _not_ going to think of what he should do in case she got away.

The ship rocked back and forth with the imbalance of weight of its panicking passengers and the waves that were starting to get angry. Lightning flashed and thunders banged, making the crewmen in charge to scuttle over to the sail and pull down the rope to steady it. The navigator that sat on the top of the sail rammed his binoculars against his eyes, shouting orders down to the sailor who struggled with the wooden steering wheel. And, only to make things worse, Puss' fur chilled to the ends as cold wind blew, signaling the start of rain blowing right to his direction.

Oh, dear mama goose.

His boots…they were made of the finest Corinthian leather…they simply can _not_ be wet…

But whilst he was weeping for the incoming tragedy of his beloved boots, a bullet was shot right next to the orange gato's left boot, making him scream his squeamish "Oh my god!" and jump a few meters back. He stared right at the hole caused by that bullet in utter horror—a hole onto the ship that his precious handcrafted leather boots might have gotten if his boot was just a few inches to the right.

O…kay...he guessed getting wet boots is better than having one with a bullet in it.

"Charge!" El Rojo commanded, and the chase began.

Puss in Boots chose to run, thinking that he would just end up walking the pirates' traditional plank if he fought them. He put a paw over his hat as he ran to steady it, eyes struggling to see through the shooting drops of rain. Well, it's not like Puss to run away from danger and underestimate his own abilities, but he had to put down his sword sometimes and use his brains. One against a stampede of moody pirates didn't seem like a very winnable deal. But suddenly, the ship gave one deadly jolt, knocking everyone to the ground—but fortunately, Puss was able to grab ahold of a post to steady himself. While everyone else struggled to get back onto their feet, he spotted the shy maid from earlier, screaming frantically as she was knocked into the air, and thrown overboard.

On instinct, he ran after her, and when he looked down, he found her holding tightly onto a rope to keep herself dangling into the air. Immediately, Puss pulled onto the rope, and then onto her hand, and hauled her back onto the ship with one big heave. The shy maid's traumatized face was barely able to say a polite 'thank you', but Puss, understanding her fear, put one paw onto her shoulder and told her to run to safety immediately. The maiden smiled, then nodded, and ran for the safety of her kitchen.

The international outlaw adjusted his hat as he watched the maiden run off. Then he turned around to dash after his initial target, letting his pursuers run after him while he was at it.

That initial target was Kitty Softpaws.

She was just starting to untie the only spare boat in existence, struggling with her paws. As Puss drew nearer, he found it odd why she wasn't using her claws to just cut the rope to free that boat. Hm, maybe she hadn't thought of that? She's just working herself up. Anyway, that wasn't _his_ problem—more like _his_ advantage. The later she gets to untie that boat, the later she would be to escape—and the sooner and easier would Puss be able to catch up on her.

Meanwhile, Kitty had noticed that Puss was running after her, and he was drawing nearer and nearer by the second. Kitty struggled with working on that stupid knot, wanting to get out of this place already. She had the map, so phase one was complete. She just had to accomplish phase two, which was to try not to die in the middle of the ocean. She ought to use her knife to free the stupid boat from the ropes tying it, but she had accidentally left it back in the cantina—and she didn't exactly have the time to go back there and retrieve it.

 _Come on, you stupid rope_ … she thought, helplessly tugging at the impossible knot. _Come…on!_ She saw Puss getting nearer and nearer, so she worked even harder in getting that knot loose.

"Work…with me…come _on_ …come on!"

Just then, a dagger flew, barely missing her whisker. With a shocked gasp, she looked up from the knot, and saw Puss in Boots right in front of her, calmly swinging his sword left and right as he let his boots make a tapping sound with each delicate step.

"That map is _mine_ , Miss Softpaws." He held out a paw, as if expecting her to drop the precious scroll on it. "The Treasure of Falguijaro is _my_ score, amiga. If you just give the map to me, we will not have any…problems."

Kitty took one step backwards as she became aware that she was weaponless without her sword. She clenched her fists, annoyed of this orange gato who acted as if he can intimidate her. Give _her_ map to _him_? No, that will never happen. Did he _really_ expect her give it? What, he thought he was so handsome that Kitty Softpaws would give in to him just like that? Yes, she knew that he was not called the Furry Lover for nothing, but she hated men with that sort of swagger.

Already, she was starting to hate this Puss in Boots' guts.

But then, when her eyes flicked over to the side, she saw the dagger that was stuck onto the wall. It was the same dagger that Puss had thrown to her direction just earlier. Her eyes brightened at the thought that she could fight him back, now that she can have a weapon. Maybe if she could just…ah, no, no, that won't happen. As she observed further with narrowed eyes, she realized that the dagger was stuck deep onto the wood, and even if she tried to pull it out, this Puss in Boots, who was rumored to have a reputation as a merciless ogre assassin, might not hesitate to thrust that foil of his directly into her heart if she even attempted to move a single muscle.

She knew, because that was what she'd do to him if their current roles were reversed. After all, she just attempted to kill him with sunwood herb two minutes earlier.

Puss impatiently tapped his boot onto the floor, arms crossed. He didn't really expect that this woman would give the map to him all that easily, but he would have to see what he could gain by gently…negotiating. Some shallow-minded women—who, no offense, mostly are—can be hypnotized by a few sweetly-spoken words. So he made sure that he turned on his charm from natural…

…to devastating.

He made it a hundred percent sure that his eyes caught the moonlight when he held out his paw to her, as charmingly as ever, his Spanish accent thickly blanketing his words just as they should.

"The map, señorita?"

Kitty finally let go of the knot on the rope, helplessly giving up on it. But the look on her face was icy steel. She locked her eyes with his, and formed one clear word with her lips.

"No."

Then she ran, the opposite direction from him.

Aaaand he was left dumfounded, his paw frozen right in the middle of the air, his mouth agape in utter shock and disbelief.

His charm _didn't_ work?

"I've gotcha, pussycat!" grumbled some hook-handed pirate whose bald head only consisted of three strands of hair. He was running after Puss, and then he brought down his hook onto the floor where Puss once was, making another splintery hole into the wooden ship's floor. But he did not hit Puss. The pirate brought his hook close to his eyes, as if wondering where his target had gone of to, before he got hit in the head by a barrel of beer and saw stars.

Puss in Boots gracefully landed onto the railing, a satisfied look onto his face as his paw threateningly hovered over the rope that tied together some more bundles of wooden barrels of beer. The funky-looking pirates who had been running after him stopped in their tracks, fearing whatever the gato might be planning. All knew of his fiendish reputation.

Finally, Puss said, "Cheers!" and pulled onto the rope that freed the barrels of beer. The barrels slowly rolled out, one by one, until all of them picked up speed and rolled along the floor like those balls in a bowling game, ready to knock out the pirates chasing after Puss. The barrels sprayed an incredible amount of beer, and some of the pirates got the liquid into the eyes; some got distracted and confused; and but most of them tried to stupidly shoo away the sprays of beer from their face. But as they did so, they accidentally hit their fellow mates, until a fight started—until massive fights started—hitting and shouting and cursing among themselves. The other, unsuspecting pirates left ran like the cowards they were—even the capitán squealed like a girl, the pet lion cowering in his arms.

Puss smiled at the chaos he made, then dashed off after Kitty. Those barrels should hold the pirates off for a while.

When Kitty looked behind her and saw Puss catching up on his speed, she felt her own heartbeat race even faster. Her lungs were starting to beg for air, her feet forcing to carry her body till she got the map safely into Humpty Dumpty's hands. The tension, the pressure, the desire to keep on living, the fear of being tortured or captured by either El Rojo and the pirates or Puss in Boots, and the weight of the map tucked right into her belt kept dragging her down, but Kitty forced herself to keep on moving.

And yet she didn't know what next move would be the most appropriate. That spare boat would take her some time to untie, some time that she didn't have because that Puss in Boots just won't leave her. That boat was her only chance of escape, of survival. Jumping into the sea to escape would _certainly_ not be an option, so she had to keep on stalling and think of what to do.

As she was running, though, a kitchen knife suddenly slashed through the air and hammered right down onto the floor, stopping her from her tracks. Kitty, breathless, looked up, slightly relieved to get some excuse to pause and gulp for precious air—but her relief was short-lived.

Because looming above her was Madame Victorina D'Bossé.

Kitty's pulse intensified, and she started to run to the opposite direction—but D'Bossé had pinched onto her ear once again, bringing her up high into the air. Kitty struggled to get away, but D'Bossé was a thousand times her own feline strength (and size).

"Now, now, kitty-kat, I know you have the map with you," D'Bossé threateningly whispered onto her ear, her breath smelling strangely of cigarette and mothballs. "But I won't tell El Rojo…if you just give that to me."

Kitty looked into the greedy eyes of Madame Victorina D'Bossé, heart pounding against her chest. Considering that D'Bossé was just her boss about five minutes ago, that woman made her feel the strange feeling of fear and intimidation, as if Kitty was once again the defenseless maid she was back at the cantina.

Defenseless…that word…it brought upon her nightmares…

That dreadful night…

…back at the house she once called her home…

…back when she couldn't fight back, helpless and _defenseless_ , and back when…when…

…when her claws…

Kitty's paw, unconsciously, was just starting to draw out the map tucked in her belt, wanting to give anything to stop that nightmare from continuing to replay inside her mind. D'Bossé's hand that held onto her ear was wet and sticky, similarly to the hand that held the blade used to cut off her…her…her feline dignity. Her lip quivered, feeling inferior before the Frenchwoman, and she was just about to give the scroll unconsciously when—

" _Let her go!"_

Kitty snapped from it, awakening herself from her nightmare. When she looked at her right, she saw Puss running fast on his four paws as he launched into the air, tackling D'Bossé right in the face with those long claws of his own. D'Bossé screamed and cursed as she fell onto the ground in a heap, trying to get the gato off of her face. Eventually she forgot about Kitty and finally let go of the she-cat, throwing her onto the air none so kindly. The female outlaw harshly rolled over the ground.

She opened her eyes, and pushed herself up from the floor. When she was finally able to sit up, groaning, she unconsciously brought one paw onto her face.

And felt that she had wetted herself with her own tears.

"Kitty!" Puss shouted while he was busy tackling D'Bossé, breaking Kitty out of her momentary trance. "Climb up the post! You'd be safe there!"

She painfully held her head, her mind still groggy from her ungentle fall. When she stood up, she saw the pirates coming to get her and Puss from every direction, and, seeing as she had no better ideas, she obeyed his command. She started to climb up the wooden post and she held onto the rope to keep herself balanced, considering that the ship's ride along the waves was starting to get too rocky for anyone else's comfort. She kept slipping for several times, but eventually, she was able to reach the top.

When she did, she met the navigator, whose eyes were too busy studying the waves with his binoculars—so it was fairly easy for Kitty to do a back kick and knock the guy unconscious.

She smiled at herself for a job well done, feeling satisfied after having climbed up a thirty-meter post. For a moment she let her mind flee, feeling the cold wind splash against her face from high up here, until she realized…until she realized…

Until she realized…

She snapped her eyes open, once again scolding herself for getting lost in a trance.

_She suddenly realized that Puss in Boots had fooled her!_

Of course. This was what she would have done if their current roles were once again reversed. Since Puss in Boots cannot seem to corner her everywhere they met, he decided that he would have to trap her from all corners to keep her in one place. And on top of the sail of the ship seemed to be the perfect spot to corner a cat.

Kitty looked down below, but to her fear, she saw Puss starting to climb up the pole after her with a smirk onto his face. Puss may have had managed to make Madame D'Bossé to scurry back to her kitchen, but the pirates surrounded them from down below, shouting curses and orders for the two cats to come back down so they could torture them.

Finally, Kitty watched in horror as Puss heaved himself up the pole. He then landed softly onto the navigator's pod, just right there in front of her.

"Now, we shall settle an agreement," said Puss breezily, scrubbing off some dirt off of his fur as if there was no riot occurring right down below them. He started to circle her slowly, eyes calculating her from head to toe—imitating the way Kitty had done so earlier. "The deal I am thinking of is this. You, Miss Kitty Softpaws, will give me the map to the Treasure of Falguijaro, and I, Puss in Boots, will help you get out of this ship. Or if not…" he then stopped walking, neared his face to hers, one paw threateningly hovering over the handle of his sword.

"…you will have to pay the price."

Kitty stared right at him, the sound of the pattering rain filling the silence.

One second. Two seconds.

Three seconds.

Then she scoffed.

Poking a paw right in the middle of his chest, Kitty said the one thing she'd been itching to say right since when she first met him.

"You know, Ginger," she said, "that is a really _classic_ thing to say. I'd say the same thing if our roles are reversed. Won't you try a more original line?"

Puss takes a horrified step backward, not really sure how he would react.

"What th—how—how _dare_ you so openly defy my extremely captivating words with your prattles of criticism!" he demanded, seriously offended. "They can at least be constructive!"

Kitty smiled coyly, opened her mouth to say something, but then, suddenly, a large wave came upon the ship, harshly rocking it back and forth, causing everyone from down below to fall to the floor once again. The two wet cats, Puss in Boots and Kitty Softpaws, who were standing thirty feet from high up in the navigator's pod, wobbled with their feet, helplessly trying to find something to balance and keep themselves standing, but failing.

Eventually, they had no choice but to collide against each other.

Both Puss and Kitty were not aware that it was each other they had collided against, but when they slowly started to flutter their eyes open, and looked up—

A pair of frisky jade met another pair of glistening sapphire.

Blushing a furious shade of red, Kitty, disgusted of herself, tried to push him away from her with a jerk, Puss chuckling at her flustered reaction. But Kitty's sudden movements coincided with a series of frightening lightning that cracked throughout the dark stormy sky, and, suddenly, one, bright blue jagged light of electricity hit the ship, causing everyone to get knocked down on their knees once again—and a fire to quickly start spreading its doom. From below, the flames quickly started to burn from where the lightning had struck it, crawling like wildfire, burning like firewood. Everyone else, even Captain El Rojo, had given up on trying to catch Puss in Boots—they had started to run for their own lives.

The ship dangerously bucked like a wild horse, and Puss was thrown away from his position high up in the air to land onto the ship's wooden floor, harshly. Kitty, however, was not too fortunate. She, too, had been knocked off the navigator's pod, but one of her back paws had gotten into a knot with a rope, so she was dangling upside down into the air in a considerable height. The map onto her boot flew right down to burn into the flames, and Kitty, try as she might, failed to seize the map right back. A gasp escaped her lips as she realized the grave situation she was now into.

She watched the map fall down to the flames, unreachable.

Kitty's blue eyes fearfully shimmered against the fire as she helplessly stared right at it, eyes widening as panic started to consume her. Despite her life hanging on the line, her thoughts are still centered onto her treasure map.

… _that map cost a lot of money…and it was her ill little brother's only chance to be…to be…_

"No…"

It was just like that night. _That_ night, when candles had been lit, the flames seeming to consume every drop her very soul has to offer. That night, when her paws had been tied up into a helpless knot, a knot that she couldn't break out of. That horrible, nightmarish night where she couldn't wake up from, when she couldn't squirm free, she couldn't escape, and she couldn't do _anything_ , completely defenseless, to stop that malicious, merciless blade from cutting off her …her…

She snapped herself out of it. She decided that she had to get out of here. With or without the map, she _had_ to get out of here, from this…this…this…

…this _nightmare_.

Forget the map. Surely, she'd be able to find another way to get money. Yes, yes… Surely…surely, she'd be able to…

Immediately, she started to work with her knotted up foot. Her paws struggled to get her leg free, trying so desperately get the knot loose. From far below her, the flames started to grow ever bigger, tongues of fire getting ever taller, as if racing to see which flame would be the highest. And it was about time that the pole she was hanging onto might get burned by the flames and crack, and in no way was Kitty Softpaws planning to fall into hell.

So she worked on to that knot even harder, cursing because she left her combat knife inside that cantina.

"Please…" she muttered, desperateness tinting the edge of her voice, pleading with the knot.

"Please…just…work with me…just—this—once—"

"Hey, hey! Señorita!"

Kitty stopped working with the knot and looked back down to see Puss in Boots, who had gotten up to his feet and was waving his paws into the air.

"Kitty!" he shouted, so loud, fighting against the roar of the flames. "Kitty! Your claws! Use your claws to break the knot! Your claws!"

The she-cat returned to working on the stupid knot that seemed to follow her everywhere, trying to ignore his words as much as possible.

"Would you quiet down? You're being very annoying!"

From down below, Puss' shoulders slumped. _She_ was the annoying one here. Why can't she just use her claws? Maybe the scaredy-cat was too scared to move, and even he could understand that, but come _on_. Was it _that_ hard to obey a single command?

Or perhaps she just didn't hear him, and therefore misunderstood what he really meant. So Puss tried again, this time putting both his paws onto his mouth in an attempt to louden the sound.

"No, señorita, you heard me wrong! I said claws! Claws!" Puss raised his paw into the air and revealed his own fine collection to her, and pointed to them as if he was talking to a five-year-old. "These things you have here! They're called _claws_! _Claws_! Use those _claws_ to cut the rope!"

Kitty merely continued struggling with the knot on her leg. "I know, I'm on it!"

But there was no change in her actions. It was evident that she was _still_ struggling with her _paws_. This time, Puss was genuinely frustrated. He stomped a foot against the rotten wooden floor.

"Why are you _not_ using your _claws_?!"

"Would you please just shut up, I said I'm on it!"

"I said your claws!" he seethed. What a scaredy-cat. " _C_ _laaaws_ _!_ "

"You! Are not! Really helping!"

"Just _use_ your _claws,_ you—you _scaredy-cat_!" He was so frustrated that he couldn't help the name-calling.

"Stop commanding me, _mother_ —"

" _YOUR CLAWS!"_

Kitty had had enough, let go of the knot, and burst right then and there.

" _I don't have any claws, alright?!"_

Suddenly, the ship jerked sideways, causing Kitty's weight to yank onto the overused rope that she was dangling on to. Kitty, thinking that she had just heard a light snap come from the rope, bore a shocked look onto her face, her fearful eyes finally catching the heat and tension of the fire from far below her. The rope finally broke, and Kitty felt herself falling into a free fall, a scream escaping her lips. The air was whooshing all around her, the flames racing, competing against each other as to which might get to consume her body first. If she fell, she was toast. _Literally_. Kitty was helplessly flinging and flailing her paws into the air, willing herself to snatch anything, anything at all, to keep herself from falling—

But not this time.

Puss had leaped into action, into the air, and Kitty felt his wet, furry arms wrap around her falling body as he hurled her towards the side of the ship, saving her from the flames that might have eaten her dead if she fell right into it. They crashed onto the floor, the pain of the impact bursting throughout their bodies as they rolled and rolled over the creaking wooden surface—until they found themselves tangled with each other, the weight of Puss' heaving body crashing her own bones.

Kitty slowly got to recover from the fall as she painfully held her head, groaning from the blow. But when she got to flutter her eyes open, she saw Puss' green ones wide with horrification, the flames burning in his irises. Kitty turned her head to the right to follow Puss' gaze, and was equally horrified at the sight to behold.

The ship was starting to sink, and yet flames were consuming it. Water was flowing in and out of the ship, and everything else was… _chaos_. People were running to and fro, either holding their heads, frantically not knowing what to do; or shouting their panic, hysterically grabbing everything they could salvage even as fire and water worked together to consume it all. Flames licked ruthlessly at everything, crackling as it ate the helpless wood, sending out thousands of violent fizzles and sizzles of sparks into the heavy, smoky air; while the water kept on running in, drowning everything and everyone into its cold, unfriendly embrace.

Their eyes snapped to the sail, which was no longer there—completely consumed by the fire, now merely ashes swept away by the tormenting rain. Soon, this very ship might end up the same way—ashes. Many people had started together on this journey, and, though the pirates aboard weren't exactly saints, they don't deserve to die right now. No one deserved to die this way, but they will, right now, because all of this was…

Puss in Boots and Kitty Softpaws' fault.

Kitty didn't know why she did it, but she put a paw onto Puss' shoulder, in an effort to comfort him. Puss looked down at her, his gaze unreadable, but Kitty firmed her grasp onto his shoulder, sealing it with a resolute nod.

It was a nod that bore the message that Kitty understood how hard it was to live on the run.

Puss looked away from Kitty and stood up, running towards the spare boat that held their escape. No time to dillydally. They had to get away now, fast. When Kitty just stood there, Puss seemed to sense that she wasn't running alongside him; so he looked back to see her giving a long wishful gaze at the flames. It bothered her to think that one of the wisps of smoke rising up in the air might've been the remains of her treasure map.

She clenched her fists, listening intently to a voice in the back of her mind…telling her to go right in there in the flames, find that map, and figure out a way to double-cross Puss in Boots later when she already had it. She almost jumped into danger, but then, another voice broke into her thoughts.

"Hey!"

Kitty whipped her head around to look at Puss, an unreadable expression stamped right across her face. Then, sharing a second of wordlessness, she eventually received a nod from him, similar to the one that she gave him earlier.

And then it struck her.

It was a nod that bore the message that there are some things worth more than gold. It was a nod that made her rethink what she had been about to do, launching herself into the rage of the flames.

_What will her brother do if she died right now, because of getting that map? Would it be worth it?_

No, it wouldn't. _Her_ life was her brother's lifeline, and if he lost her right now, then he might feel so terrible he might commit suicide. He already had a disease no doctor could ever find a cure of, and he certainly didn't need anymore feelings of guilt and misery. And that would even be worse. Kitty immediately understood.

So she nodded right back at Puss, forgot about the map, and ran to help him get that boat off the ship so they could start sailing to their escape. Puss cut off the rope with his claws, and together, they heaved to get the boat off the ship and down overboard. The cats jumped onto the railing and saw off the boat, Puss nodding to Kitty to signal her to go first. Kitty did as she was told this time, slightly retreating from her position to gather force, and then jumping up into the air to land smoothly onto the boat. Kitty got up, faced Puss from the tiny boat, and waved her paws into the air, challenging him to do a better spin than hers to try lightening the mood.

She didn't even know why she _wasn't_ sailing away already, choosing to leave him behind now that she had the chance.

No. Somehow she _wanted_ him to at least come out of here alive. She thought that…he _saved_ her life after all. She owed him one. And no, Kitty was most certainly _not_ getting soft for this ginger cat in high heels. Just _then_ after they reach Spain would she trick and deceive him, and run away alone with the map under her belt.

Oh, right…she almost wanted to slap her forehead for thinking that. _The map was burned into flames already, alright? Get a move on, Softpaws._

Puss smiled from up the railing on the ship, liking the idea of a challenge from Kitty. He got ready to do his spinning-through-the-air thing—that was a skill he'd learned from the legendary adventurer El Guante Blanco himself—but just as Puss was about to jump, a hand grabbed onto his boot and harshly pulled him back down, making a strangled meow escape his lips.

Soon, Puss found himself face-to-face with El Rojo himself, his one unpatched eye red-rimmed from acid, his left arm suffering from severe burns. His alligator-skin clothes were burned, as well, and half of his face bled for some reason, blood running through his thick hair down to his chin. His face was contorted so badly into an expression of anger, desperateness, resentment, umbrage, and utter bitterness that it was impossible to point out what kind of expression he was really, _exactly_ wearing at the moment.

Overall, it looked like this wasn't one of El Rojo's favorite days.

"Uh…ahoy there…" Puss nervously chuckled at him from upside down. "…mate?"

" _Ye burned all me booty and me crew!_ " El Rojo cried out, shaking Puss violently from the boot. He had to keep his paw over his hat to keep it attached onto his head, his other paw placed over his mouth to suppress vomiting. Then, El Rojo, like the angry pirate he was, swung him over to the side so Puss was just dangling over the water, his hat finally coming off of his head and landing onto the deep sea down below. Kitty gasped from where she was as she witnessed the event happening in front of her—Puss might as well drop a thousand feet into the sea just like his hat had if she didn't act now.

" _Where is me map or you'll drown right here, land lubber!"_

Puss stared at the deep gleaming blue of the ocean, and felt his fur rise to the ends in fear of water.

"No, we don't have it!" Puss screamed, trying to talk through his uncomfortable ride with El Rojo shaking him in the air like that.

"Ye don't got me map? Hm." El Rojo raised Puss into the air, so his bloody red eye was level with Puss' frightened green ones. The pirate captain then gestured toward Kitty, who was watching the scene play out in front of her from the boat. "Ye, kitty-beauty, ye must have the map. If ye hand it o'er, I won't chuck yer pathetic mate over to the sea! Now you choose! Say aye! _Say you have it!_ "

Kitty's face could've blown up like a kettle as all the shades of red in the world started to boil and cause steam out of her ears. With a trembling finger, she pointed it at Puss, and spluttered, "H-He's n-n-not—"

"The map!" El Rojo did not care about these bilge cats' love life whatsoever. "WHERE IS ME MAP, YE OL' FOOLS?!"

Kitty managed to clear her throat and force some decent words out of her mouth. "He already told you, we _don't_ have it!"

El Rojo just became angrier. "Oh yeah?" he challenged, now _really_ threatening to drop Puss into the sea. He shook him some more, causing Puss' control of vomiting to dangle onto a thin thread. "Then let's find out, shall we?"

Kitty clenched her fists. _Oh no, Granpa, not when I'm around._

It happened quickly. As she launched herself freely into the air, she heard Puss call out for her name frantically, but too late to take the action back. With an angry meow, she landed right onto El Rojo's face, tackling him until he fell into the ground and finally released Puss from his vice grip. He shouted brutal curses as he tried to get her off, and as Puss, dizzy as he was, tried to get himself together, he watched Kitty attack the hulking gargantuan pirate like the mini tigress she was. Her actions were similar to what he did to Madame D'Bossé just earlier, but he still had to be impressed.

This woman was most certainly no scaredy-cat.

He was suddenly interrupted by a roar of thunder from behind him, though. At least, he wanted to _believe_ it was just a roar of thunder. His eyes widened as realization dawned. Because everyone knew that every pirate ship has something in common—all of them, no matter what kind of pirate ship it should be, carried dozens and dozens of crates of…

He turned around, slowly. His eyes flickered against the flames as he realized what he was up against here.

… _explosives_.

Once the flames would touch the explosives, Puss in Boots would merely be a legend for children's tales.

So he ran for Kitty, pulling onto her arm so she stopped tackling El Rojo, and, just right there, as he jumped into the air off the ship's railing, the ship exploded—a brutal flash of blinding light followed by a booming roar more thunderous than thunder, a blast sending the waves rippling away from the epicenter of the bang that drowned out El Rojo's helpless _"Noooooo!"_ Screams escaped Puss and Kitty's mouths as they were hurled into the air by the force of the wind caused by the explosion, and they landed onto the sea among all other burning pieces of wood and other materials. They struggled in the water to keep themselves onto the surface while flailing their arms to find something to hold onto, and, coincidentally, Puss and Kitty had blindly grabbed onto the same rectangular piece of floating wood.

Their eyes met.

Kitty opened her mouth to say something. "Puss…"

"Yes?"

She couldn't find the words. "I…I—"

An after-explosion resounded to interrupt, and though this time a lot less violent than the first one, it was still a brutal blast. A heat wave passed to blow Puss and Kitty's wet whiskers, and both looked back to stare at the disaster they both had made. They stared at the sinking ship—no, _shipwreck_ , now merely the aftermath of a disaster, the flames slowly starting to calm down as the water devoured the burned up pile of wood.

The pirates they might have killed, right then and there, probably numbered to more than a hundred.

And it was all… _all_ their fault…

Their greed, their personal needs…

Puss cleared his throat, looking away from the ship to gulp down his rising guilt.

"Were you, perhaps, about to say something—"

"—nothing," she cut off abruptly, not wanting to get into any cheesy and sticky situations.

But Puss wouldn't want any of it. Mockingly, he put a paw over his ear, acting as if he was an old granny who couldn't hear properly.

"What? I couldn't quite hear you."

 _How could he act so childishly after having escaped an explosion from a pirate ship?_ Kitty, annoyed, roughly pushed him away by thrusting his hat toward him. "I said nothing! Now let go of it."

Puss held back his tongue at her reaction. He took the hat from her paw, and awkwardly placed it over his head, still looking over at her direction. Maybe it was true that women _are_ scary with their mood-swings. So he just shrugged it off, let it go as he was told, and let the silence settle for a while.

They silently sailed through the water as the cats held on to their floating piece of wood, willing their minds to stop thinking about the shipwreck sinking just behind them.

A few seconds more of awkward silence lasted. But then, a giant wave passed, causing Kitty to slide from her position and gently bump against Puss. The gato looked beside him to meet Kitty's suddenly bashful eyes, which immediately looked at another direction to try not to get too fascinated by the infernal greenness.

Kitty heaved a breath, then let it out. She looked up at him, mustering all the courage in the world to be able to look at the same being who she just tried to kill a few minutes earlier—and say the one thing she'd been itching to say right since he first saved her from the wrath of Madame D'Bossé.

"I never got to say this, but…" Kitty looked into his eyes. "…thanks, Ginger."

Puss smiled gently, nodding with a noble tip of his hat.

"My duty, señorita."

Kitty smiled. She was just about to say something to him in response, something flirtatiously pithy, maybe, but then, he patted her on the back twice. She gave him a confused look, but he just returned it with a smug smirk. He wasn't yet finished with what he was saying.

"Do not flatter yourself, though," he informed her matter-of-factly. "In case you have forgotten already, you still owe me the map of Falguija—"

He was stopped by a suddenly-broken rib.

_Oh, ho, ho…she is a bad kitty._


End file.
